A studio sewn from generations of tradition

THIRD-generation seamstress Soriya Sim has opened a new Ocean Grove studio designed to help creatives learn, connect and find inspiration.

The Sewing Collective Studio opened its doors on Wednesday and combines Sim’s alterations and dressmaking business with sewing classes, workshops and open studio sessions.

For Sim, the studio is the latest chapter in a life spent working in the fashion industry.

Her mother and grandmother were both seamstresses, and she cannot remember a time before she could sew.

“I grew up around sewing machines,” Sim said. “It is like second nature, and it is in my blood.”

After discovering textiles at high school and completing a VET course, Sim moved overseas to work in styling for a men’s fashion magazine.

The studio will offer classes and open studio time for creatives to utilise. Photo: Melinda Tonzing.

“But I always came back to sewing,” she said.

Years later, Sim moved to Ocean Grove with her husband and, after becoming a mother, launched her first business, Overview Alterations, from home.

“I decided I was bored and I didn’t want to go back to work, but I needed to do something creative again,” she said.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the business shifted unexpectedly when customers began asking whether she could make masks.

“I had an abundance of fabric and elastic,” she said. “We ended up making 3,000 face masks in two weeks.”

Following the birth of her second daughter, Sim took maternity leave just as she and her husband began rebuilding their home, which also housed her studio.

While renting during the renovations, the couple’s landlord mentioned another property that proved to be the perfect fit for Sim’s long-held dream of opening a dedicated creative studio.

Many people have asked Sim about sewing lessons, and she is excited to be able to offer them from her new space. Photo: Melinda Tonzing.

“I fell in love with [the space],” she said.

Since receiving the keys in March, Sim has spent months bringing her vision for the space to life. There is a space for workshops, to be run by Sim and other creatives, as well as open studio facilities for people to come and spend the day working on their own projects.

Sim hopes it will become a place where people can slow down, learn new skills and connect through creativity.

“I have always sewn as a form of therapy,” she said.

“I hope [the studio] becomes something like that for someone, where you want to do something with your hands, or you want to learn a new skill or a new craft, but it also gives you that peace and that time for you.”